"On Healing Land, Birds Perch" Documentary Viewing

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

"On Healing Land, Birds Perch" is a short documentary that tells the remarkable stories behind one of the most iconic photos in history, while acting as a portal into the “varied carols,” to borrow from Walt Whitman, of trauma and the American journey. This is the first documentary, from a Vietnamese born filmmaker that explores the continuing aftershocks of the Vietnam War from the perspectives of both sides of the war: North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese including Vietnamese Americans alive today. The story is told through the iconic Pulitzer winning photo of General Loan shooting a Vietcong, Captain Nguyen Van Lem in the head, two days after the 1968 Tet Offensive. 

A discussion and audience Q&A will follow the film.